JAASEP SPRING/SUMMER 2009 Part 1 of 9
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- The Practical Teacher
- Treatment and Support for IEP Students with Disabilities
- Working with Paraprofessionals in Your School
Gang – involved delinquent behavior is a concern that has a far reaching impact in school and communities (Black & Krishnakumar, 1998; Fest, 1999; Maldonado – Dura’n & Millhuff, 2002; Smith & Thornberry, 1995). This behavior poses a threat to society, and professionals struggle to address this problem so that children and families are not continually impacted.
Experts that work with gang-involved and delinquent adolescents state that many youth have experienced traumatic life events to such an extent that their either suffer from PTSD symptomatology or have become desensitized to violence (Astor, 1998; Battin – Pearson, et al., 1998; Crimmins, et al., 2000; Esbesen, 2000). When reviewing traumatic experiences and their impact, Freud (1920) believed that each individual possessed a type of psychological shield that protected him from harmful stimuli. If this shield were breached, the individual would feel helpless and traumatized, and this traumatic/helpless feeling would be experienced over and over until the individual was able to create an appropriate defense mechanism to deal with the emotion (i.e. violence, aggressive behavior, and/or delinquent behavior).
Abstract
The extent to which both traumatic life experiences and resiliency factors contributed to gang-involved delinquent behavior in adolescent males was investigated. Results indicated that the juvenile delinquent residential treatment setting participants had significantly higher levels of both Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptomatology and emotional numbing than regular education high school students. Results also revealed that emotional numbing in the residential treatment setting participants positively correlated with gang-involved delinquent behavior. In addition, the low resiliency scores of residential treatment setting participants positively correlated with both gang involvement and delinquency. Practical implications of this study were discussed, including the effectiveness of screening for PTSD symptomatology when considering admission to a residential treatment facility and creating treatment goals.